Hey y'all! I just got this in an email and thought I'd pass it on. It's amazing and I thought it was fake at first, but I can't find anything to disprove it. How amazing it must have been to witness this! Enjoy!

Looking like giant leaves floating in the sea thousands of Golden Rays are
seen here gathering off the coast of Mexico . The spectacular scene was
captured as the magnificent creatures made one of their biannual mass
migrations to more agreeable waters.

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r277/haleyleann/ATT24425-1.jpg

Gliding silently beneath the waves they turned vast areas of blue water to
gold off the northern tip of the Yucatan Peninsula . Sandra Critelli, an amateur
photographer, stumbled across the phenomenon while looking for whale sharks.

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r277/haleyleann/ATT24426-1.jpg

She said: 'It was an unreal image, very difficult to describe. The surface of the water
was covered by warm and different shades of gold and looked like a bed of autumn
leaves gently moved by the wind. 'It's hard to say exactly how many there were,
but in the range of a few thousand.

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r277/haleyleann/ATT24427-1.jpg

'We were surrounded by them, without seeing the edge of the school,
and we could see many under the water surface too. I feel very
fortunate I was there in the right place at the right time to experience
nature at his best.'

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r277/haleyleann/ATT24428-1.jpg

Measuring up to 7 ft (2.1 meters) from wing-tip to wing-tip,
Golden Rays are also more prosaically known as Cow Nose Rays.
They have long, pointed pectoral fins that separate into two lobes
in front of their high-domed heads and give them a cow-like appearance.
Despite having poisonous stingers, they are known to be shy and
non-threatening when in large schools. The population in the
Gulf of Mexico migrates, in schools of as many as 10,000,
clockwise from western Florida to the Yucatan .

Foo2

09-05-2008, 13:46

hmmm let me know if the links to those pics don't work.

peteg

09-05-2008, 13:55

@Foo2: yep, links don't work

unclepooty

09-05-2008, 14:00

Got the same email, but also can get them on here

mwhities

09-05-2008, 14:01

I've seen these before and it's not fake. (I've seen the pictures.) It's a awe inspiring migration.

Michael

Foo2

09-05-2008, 14:01

Now they're there! :D

BSea

09-05-2008, 14:03

Edit: Never mind......you fixed it.

But on a good note, this is true. I would love to actually witness this in person.

I have seen this species in Indonesia, Flores, Komodo National Park. Sadly they were piled up with lots of sharks on a beach with their wings cut off. It says alot about the park authorities! It's nice to see them alive and in such an impressive array.

Splitlip

09-05-2008, 23:42

Spectacular Foo. Thank you.

mrb, thank you too for reminding us.

Aussie

09-06-2008, 00:43

We often get schools of Cow Nose Rays coming through over here. Ranging from a small group of say 10 to a larger school of maybe 200+. I remember once having day turn into night when a huge school swam over the top.

Another thing to keep an eye out when you see Cow Nose Rays are also small Mantas called Mobulla Rays or Pygmy Mantas. They are about the same size of the Cow Nose.

Can be hard to get a photo of as they are always on the move and do like divers getting close.

Regards Mark

mrbheagney

09-06-2008, 02:52

I think the smaller one is also referred to as the Devil Ray Mobula japonica. I saw a squadron of 15 of those in Indo once, fantastic sight as they glided along in a pyramid formation.